Whole



PATENTED JULY 23, 1861.`

i G'. KOBERlv WATER METER.,

. IlI f' g.

, U. 4leggriN'l OFFICE.

No. 1,874. 1861. wHtLE-.Nasas'za To 'ALL WHOM rr MAY. conceals:

Water Meters.

e. Koene, or NEw'ronK, N. Y.

Letters Patent .Z\7o'."1,874, v dated July 23, 1861.

SPECIFICATION.

i Be it known, that` 1,' GOTTFRIED KoBER, of the city, county and State of New York,have invented a new and .usefnlirnprovement in Meters for Measuring the Flow of .Water and other Liquids; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings formin g'part of 'this specification, in which-f y Figure l is a central vertical section of a meter .with my improvements. Figure 2.i's a side View 'of the measuring wheel. 'Figure 3 -is an inverted plan of thesarne. 4 Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts inthe several gures. This'invention relates to the class of meters which effect themeasurem'ent of I the 4water or other liquidhy its action upon a screw or spiral-blended. Wheel.

A great obstacle to perfect measurement by this class of nieters has hitherto been, that the velocity of rotationof the lscrew or wheel has been greater, relatively to a high velocity of the passage of the liquid Athrough it; than it has been to a low velocity, and inmany-'examples the liquid might hedra'wn through the meter very slowly without moving the screw or wheel at all. This invention consists in a certain construction of the screw or wheel, and mode oflapplying the I saine to the shaft, vand in relation to the naouth of the passage through which the y liquid is admitted toact upon it, whereby the above mentioned difficulty is ohviated. g i

A B is an upright trunk of .cast iron, or other metal, having its upper part B I 2 v- U. SPATENT OFFICE, 1861.'-N0. 1,874.

Kobers .Improvement WaiterV Meters.

larger than the lower part A, but both' of' cylindrical form. ,i This trunk isi-erected upon a hollow base C, through which there is an inlet la to the bottom of the tru-nk for the liquid to'be measured,suppose water, for example,vthezoutletl u being at the bottom of the upper portion B of the trunk. Gr is the register'b'ox on the top ofthe said trunk.A D is an upright cylinder or cylindrical lining of'- brass or other metal screwed into the bottom of'- the trunk-and extending upward' to Within a short distance from the top of' the smaller portion-A thereof, v-f'or *thel reception of the spiral-bladed wheel E, which ts quite 'loosely to -said cylinder D,so that it `workswithout friction therein., The upright shaft-E of this wheel works in an oil box bear-ing c, in a brace extending across the bottom of the cyl-' inder D, and in'a bearing in the top of the trunk A-B, vand its upperpart,l having. a screw-threadc cut upcnit, enters theregister box above saidv screw`,ngearing with the first Wheel ofthe' registering train. lfl'lhe' wheel E is made with a liollow air-tight cylindrical hub'd, the 'cavity-f. therein being of' such capacity that, though the wheel wil1'.not oat, it will rise with any considerable pressure. of'v Water on` itsunder side,ntwithstanding the f'reepassage Ofwatelj arOun'd. it; and

'l in orderto-permit it to rise and fall, itlis fitted to slide iuponjfitspjsh-aftiF, andis i furnished witha long pin gat its upper e nd, enteringa notchiin al Vco'll'ar'l.,oritlfie f shaft, for the purpose of `causing*the latteralways to rotate `with'it; f-cfkaref'the,

spiral blades 'of thewhei winding round' the', hib'like thefphfssdssf' screw,

made very thin andarranged at short distancesapar-t. These arel extended l a short distance below'the bottom of the hub, 'as-shown at 114i, the'y action of' the" water upon the so extended'portions, which constitutes oneof thef'eaturesotthis invention, beinglike the action on the' buckets of' a turbinewiitr"wheel pendent of the action oi' the water on those portions which surround-,the hub, las"- will be presently explained. j is an annular seat projectingsupiward within the'-y lower part of the cylinder D, and having-a narrow face upon which the wheel c, rests Awhen no water is being/drawn throughvthe meter. Tli'eopening in this seat constitutes the V mouth of the passagcbywhich the water entersthe portionoftheV cylinder'D which containsthe wheel E. H is ashort'tube'or cllarfi'tted to slidev i on the'upper part of' the cylinder D, for the purpose of forming angupward prolongation of the said cylinder. I is as trainer lplaced at the bottom-ofthe cylinder D, to exclude' any dirt that might prevent the action of' thev meter.

The water, entering the meter at a, passes upward through the opening in the seat j, raises the wheel E, and passes under it and between'its spiralblades, and fills the trunk cylinder D and trunk A B. When the outletis closed, the wheel rests on the seat i7' j; but as soon as the outlet is opened, in drawing off the water,

and the pressure above the wheel is thereby reduced, thevpressure of the water' below'raises the Wheel, and the'water. passes first between the hub of the wheel and the seat j j, through the passages between the turbine-like lowerportions 'i i ofthe blades, in a horizontal or nearly horizontal direction, and then ascends the passages betweenv the spiral portions 7c .of the blades surrounding the cylindrical "Tl-S. PATENT OEFIon'IISGlff- Nd l,874. 3

i Kobers Improvement 'in Water Meters.

hub, rst acting on vthe, portions 't' i, asl upon the buckets'of a u'turbine wheel, and

then against the spiral portions above, and in both cases Aacting With-a tendency to produce the rotation of the'wheel inone direction.

When the outlet is not much opened, ,or there o is not a. very high pres-sure on the inlet, and the watercis consequently passing through the meter with little velocity, the pressurebelow the wheel vbei-ng but little in exoessvof thel pressure above, -the wheel is a very little raised from its seat, and the water' is caused to pass between the wheel and seatA and through the passages betweenv the turbine-like vportions 'i'iof lthe blades, in a. horizontal direction, and thereby-caused to act with' great effect upon the said portions; but when the'vupward pressure 'is greater, owingto a greater opening of the outlet,or greater pressure onuthe inlet, and

the velocity lof the water is thereforegreater, the wheel is raised higher and the water passes between the seat j andvthe bottom of the wheel in a more upward direction, and, therefore, acts with less effect upon the turbine-like portions i t' of the blades, and the wheel may be raised so high thatY the turbine-like action is inappreciable. Hence, it willbe understood that, when the water-is least e'ective on the spiral portions of i the.blades outside of the hub, it is most effective on the turbine, and vice versa.4 o The cylinder-,D is represented as not higher than the wheel E. The` reason of this is, that, when themeter is in operation, a portion ofthe wheel may be above n the said cylinder, where, if the tube H were not raised above the cylinder, it

would be surroundedl by the' greaterl body of waterin the portion of the trunk above, which water, ascending more slowly than that in the cylinder, would'obstruct the revolution of the wheel; and the more of the wheel there was exposed above the cylinder, the greater would be the obstruction, and the less would lbe the number of revolutions -produced bya lgiven quantity of water passing through the'whee'l. By raising the tube H above the cylinder more or less, the `obstruction o is more or less diminished,sand vice versa, as the said tube, forming a continuation ofthe cylinder, protects the wheel from the obstructing influence of the greater body of' water above the cylinder, and hence, by raisingbr lowering the said tube, the meter may be adjusted with the greatest accuracy. Whenthe quantity indicated by the register is less than that actually passing, the tube H requires to be raised, and vice versa. l

The tube H is more especially luseful in constructing the irst meter of a given capacit-y; but when the proper proportions of the several parts of' the meter have l been ascertained for a meter of the required capacity, any number of meters of the same capacity may be made. The inner cylinder or lining'D may, in most cases, be dispensed with and the cylindrical portion A of the trunk'be bored for the reception of the wheelD, the seat j j being, in such case, made of a separate piece and screwed into the bot-torn of the trunk. o

4.Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

- The downward extension of the spiral blades It lc from the exterior periphery of' 4 o U. s, mm omo-E, 1s61'.',-N 0. 1,874.

Kobrs Improvement 'in Water lJWeters,

tho r-ising'nn'd fnlling cylindrical hub d, below the bottom thereof, as shown` at i i, incombination with an annular seat jj, of smaller diameter than the said hub,

substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

. G. KOBER.

Witnesses:

M. M. LIVINGSTON, DAVE) STEWART* 

